Transgender college students report higher rates of discrimination in gendered restrooms than do their cisgender peers. It is critical to understand factors that promote greater acceptance of transgender students using restrooms that align with their gender identity. The current experiment examined the impact of perceived social norms on both…

This article explores reality TV's value in teaching sociological concepts and theories for a better understanding contemporary society. Reality TV serves as a rich canvas for illustrating key tenets of major sociological theories such as structural functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interactionism. By analyzing reality TV through a…

Curricular content in undergraduate biology courses has been historically hetero and cisnormative due to various cultural stigmas, biases, and discrimination. Such curricula may be partially responsible for why LGBTQ+ students in STEM are less likely to complete their degrees than their non-LGBTQ+ counterparts. We developed Broadening Perspective…

Consensual Non-Monogamy (CNM) is an umbrella term for relationships in which all partners explicitly consent to engage in romantic, intimate, or sexual relationships with multiple people. In a recent study on polyamory, one form of CNM, data from a nationally representative sample of 3,438 single adults in the U.S. from a range of backgrounds…

Student conduct administrators are charged with crafting and enforcing an institution's code of conduct equitably for all students. Few administrators are in a position to disrupt or end a student's college career. Public institutions' administrators function as state actors and must uphold the student rights protected in the landmark 1961 Dixon…

Social psychologists have leveraged social norms messaging about prejudice to improve social climates. Less research, however, has explored how social identities of message sources and recipients (e.g., gender) influence receptivity to these messages. Testing for the effects of source and recipient social identity on message receptivity is not…

Early College High Schools (ECHSs) represent a unique approach for educating minoritized students. As a hybrid, joining a traditional high school with a college or university, the central mission of ECHSs is to provide academic support and resources for students' high school completion and substantial college credit. The success of the ECHS model…

LGBTQ+ supportive practices in college and university housing must extend beyond cursory policies and practice. Applying a critical framework, The Traditionally Heterogendered Institution (THI), this study explores the experiences of 16 LGBTQ+ students navigating college and university housing. Findings illustrate how colleges and universities…

The U.S. Supreme Court has called America's colleges and universities "vital centers for the Nation's intellectual life," but the reality today is that many of these institutions severely restrict free speech and open debate. Speech codes--policies prohibiting student and faculty speech that would, outside the bounds of campus, be…

Each year, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) conducts a rigorous survey of restrictions on speech at America's colleges and universities. The survey and accompanying report explore the extent to which schools are meeting their legal and moral obligations to uphold students' and faculty members' rights to freedom of speech,…

Each year, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) conducts a rigorous survey of restrictions on speech at America's colleges and universities. The survey and resulting report explore the extent to which schools are meeting their legal and moral obligations to uphold students' and faculty members' rights to freedom of speech,…

Each year, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) conducts a wide, detailed survey of restrictions on speech at America's colleges and universities. The survey and resulting report explore the extent to which schools are meeting their obligations to uphold students' and faculty members' rights to freedom of speech, freedom of…

Like the proverbial "square peg" that meets resistance when forced to go through a round hole, adult students often struggle as they try to progress through systems of higher education that have been shaped to accommodate traditionally aged students. Adult students may have difficulty progressing through the postsecondary system because…